fictionaltvstationsfandomcom-20200216-history
Omni Broadcasting Network
The Omni Broadcasting Network (simply known as "Omni") is an over-the-air broadcast television network in the United States (not to be confused with the Canadian broadcast system Omni Television). The company's motto was "Less Edge and More Entertaining". After 10 years, Omni had a change of direction and ratings started to grow little by little. History 2003-13: The first Decade The Omni Broadcasting Network was launched in 2003 by Omni Holdings. Omni broadcast 60 hours of programming per week, 21 hours during prime time. The network primarily ran classic films, usually during late-night hours or on the weekends. Omni also offers a few original television series, "Thirteen O'Clock Theater", an umbrella title for old sci-fi and horror films in public domain shown at 1 a.m. ET. The network also showed older children's programming such as Birdz to meet E/I requirements. After 2013 and barely even getting any ratings at all, and the network deep in debt, Omni Holdings was ready to close down the network when Lucie Salhany, who was the CEO of UPN from 1995-97, formed a company with her husband, John Polcari, Jr, called JH Media. JH Media bought enough stock in Omni to become the majority owners of the network. 2013-Present: Change of Direction One of Salhany's first moves was to change the programming and began offering 2 hours of prime-time programming filled with original programming. With JH Media producing the majority of the shows, Omni started a slow climb towards respectability. "Rome wasn't built in a day," Salhany said. "It takes time and patience, but Omni will be the most entertaining network on television." One of the first series that Omni picked up was a remake of the classic TV Western The Rifleman. After being passed by CBS in 2011, Chris Columbus, Robert Levy, Steven Gardner, and Arthur Gardner (related to original producers Levy-Gardner-Laven), who were executive producers to the series, started shopping around looking to see who will pick up the show, and Omni agreed. Another series that Omni picked up was Star Trek: Hidden Frontier, with Rob Caves as executive producers. Both series became smash hits and by the end of the 2013-14 season, Omni was finally turning a profit. In Fall 2014, Ronald D. Moore had some series that was passed by the major networks, and Omni was willing to put some of them on the schedule. One of them was another western remake. This time, The Wild, Wild West. Once again, Omni hit pay dirt, and with both The Rifleman ''and ''The Wild, Wild West airing on the same night (Friday night), Omni was finally able to make it out of the ratings basement. Omni Sports In 2015, shortly after America One shut their doors, Omni Sports started their sports division after being awarded broadcasting rights for the Canadian Hockey League. Later on, they were awarded broadcasting rights to the USA Rugby League, the CARS X-1R Pro Cup Series, and the Indoor Football League. Programming Schedule Omni provides 20 hours of programming over the week, including 2 hours each night (with an extra hour on Sundays) (15 hours), and 5 hours on Saturday mornings. Local affiliates air local programming throughout the day and late night hours. Disney's One Saturday Morning Borrowing it's name from the former ABC programming block (which became ABC Kids before Litton took over and renamed it Weekend Adventure), Disney provides five hours of programming for Omni's children's block. Affiliates If you wish to be an affiliate of Omni, feel free to do so and add your station to the table. Keep in mind that the stations are in alphabetical order. Category:Fictional television networks Category:Television channels and stations established in 2003 Category:New York (state) Category:New York City Category:OMNI Holdings